Korea Delivers: Gamjatang 감자탕 (Pork Bone Soup)

I’m going to start a new segment in Korean Eats called Korea Delivers which will focus on food you can get delivered to your apartment in Korea. I always appreciate not having to put on real clothes while getting some tasty noms, but Korea takes it to the next level. There are a variety of options you can choose from to have delivered to your residence, all you need is some Korean speaking skills (or a Korean friend) and some money (some places even take card).

One dreary rainy Saturday night when leaving the apartment didn’t seem like a good idea we ordered some Korean comfort food in the form of gamjatang. Gamjatang 감자탕 is Korean pork bone soup and while neither the name or looks are appealing, it is really delicious.

In Korea, food delivery is really common place and you won’t even have to try to hard to find restaurants that deliver to your specific location. Many times restaurants will advertise on small cards that they will either stick to your front door with tape or a magnet (since many front doors are metal). There are even books filled with menus and contact info for various restaurants that cater to a certain area. Now, I will say that some of the smaller menus are all in hangul with very few pictures so some background knowledge (or a Korean friend) is going to be required. Learning hangul (the Korean written language) is pretty easy and doesn’t take very long, thanks to King Sejong who created a written language that would be easily accessible to all of his people. Some familiarity with the language and food should make it easy to recognize popular food items or terms.

Maybe I’ll do a later post on ordering food in Korea in more depth, but for now let’s move onto the food itself!

Here is one of those books I was talking about. Inside are various advertisements for restaurants and stores.

Bingo! Found what I want for dinner!

Next up, order the food and then you wait….depending on what time of day and where you order from wait times range from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.

Some restaurants will only take cash (and the deliverer may not have exact change) while other places will take your card.

Here he is!!! The guy bringing us our dinner!! Many newer apartments in Korea are furnished with these cameras that are built into the doorbell system…so you know who’s at the door and if you want to answer it or pretend not to be home.

Pay up for the food!

Delivery food is usually brought to you in one of two forms. There are the restaurants that will bring you food with actual plates, bowls and utensils that you package up in a large delivery box and leave outside your door when you are done eating. But for the most part you will get take out containers that you just throw away once you are done eating.

Like I mentioned earlier, we had decided on gamjatang…one of my favorite Korean comfort foods.

Here is how it came

What we ordered, the total came out to 22,000 won (less than $22 US). Most places will have a minimum order amount but don’t charge for delivery, you also don’t tip the delivery guy.

The spread

Now, let’s get some closeups on what we ordered. Gamjatang is pork bone soup and many times the spine is used…kind of gross looking but it is really good. And the meat reminds me of rib meat.

Close up on the soup…it has the pork bones, veggies, mushrooms, chilis, potatoes and small handmade noodles.

What Korean meal would be complete without kimchi? Answer: None! This is the kkakdugi variety which is cubed radish and one of my favorites!

Gamjatang is served with this sauce on the side which tastes kind of vinegary.

Rice

Soup, rice and kimchi! A well rounded meal!

All in all it was a great meal! We ordered for two people and the smallest soup portion would have easily fed 3 hungry people. There was also the plus of getting to stay inside and out of the storm! Korean food delivery is really amazing since food in general isn’t too expensive and there is no tipping or paying for the delivery.